Empowerment, intimate partner violence and skilled birth attendance among women in rural Uganda

Abstract

BackgroundThere is limited research on how the empowerment of women and intimate partner violence (IPV) are associated with skilled birth attendance (SBA) among rural women in Uganda. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to investigate the association between women’s empowerment, their experience of IPV and SBA in rural Uganda.MethodsUsing data from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), we selected 857 rural women who were in union, had given birth in the last 5 years preceding the survey and were selected for the domestic violence (DV) module. Frequency distributions were used to describe the background characteristics of the women and their partners. Pearson’s chi-squared (χ2) tests were used to investigate the associations between SBA and women’s empowerment; and partners’ and women’s socio-demographic factors including sexual violence. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between SBA and explanatory variables.ResultsMore than half (55 %) of the women delivered under the supervision of skilled birth attendant. Women’s empowerment with respect to participation in household decision-making, property (land and house) (co)ownership, IPV, and sexual empowerment did not positively predict SBA among rural women in Uganda. Key predictors of SBA were household wealth status, partners’ education, ANC attendance and parity.ConclusionsFor enhancement of SBA in rural areas, there is a need to encourage a more comprehensive ANC attendance irrespective of number of children a woman has; and design interventions to enhance household wealth and promote men’s education.

Correlates Of Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Women In Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Women whose partners had controlling behaviors were more likely to experience all forms of IPV and similar ndings have been reported in Uganda [24][25][26] and in the WHO multi-country study [13]. The patriarchal societies that emphasize male dominance in the family and the dowry that men pay could help explain this nding.…”

Correlates Of Intimate Partner Violence Among Women In Union In Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Closely related to the above, economic empowerment was protective against sexual IPV since empowered women were less likely to experience sexual violence. Our findings are consistent with previous studies [14,15,50] that indicated that empowered women contribute financially to household needs, get involved in decision making and have decreased odds of experiencing intimate partner violence.…”

“…Studies in Bolivia and United States [28], the WHO multi-country study [46] and Uganda [40,47] Wealth status was significantly associated with physical IPV. Our finding is consistent with the pattern reported in India [28,49] and Uganda [14,16] were women with higher income and those from high socio-economic status have less odds of experiencing violence. However, this study also indicated that women in the poorer and middle wealth quintiles also had decreased odds of experiencing physical violence.…”

“…Women whose partners had controlling behaviors were more likely to experience all forms of IPV and similar findings have been reported in Uganda [14,15,19] and WHO multi-country study [13]. The dowry that men pay could help explain this finding since most men and the society generally view such women as a property of their husbands so long as bride price was paid.…”

“…Consequently, some studies on IPV in Uganda have been done in consonance with Article 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and the Domestic Violence Act 2010 [14][15][16][17][18][19]. Specifically, many of the studies and policies spell out the need for women to gain full and equal dignity of the person of the man through undermining prohibitive laws, cultures and traditions that dent the status of women.…”